Structural Patterns of Multilingual Codeswitching between Arabic and English

Alaa Hamdan M Alhamdan

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.8n.3p.93

Abstract

As multilingualism is increasingly embraced in Saudi Arabia, the inevitable practice of codeswitching is a topic of heated debate. While it has been the subject of strong-held beliefs and opinions, established scholarly work is needed to enlighten the understanding of this use of languages. Hence, this study explored naturally occurring data of the codeswitching use of Arabic and English by multilingual Arab students as they attend Arabic weekly cultural seminar sessions during their temporary stay and study in the US. It captures their codeswitching use via video recordings and subjected to linguistic analyses on three levels: whole text-level, sentence-level and morpheme-level, with the implementation of the mixed-method approach. The findings revealed that the linguistic analysis of 523 codeswitching occurrences found in the data revealed the structural complexity and variety of codeswitching as a linguistic resource available to multilinguals fluent in Arabic and English. Occurring spontaneously and rather unpredictably in multilingual interactions, it disproved common Saudi and other perceptions of it as a form of language offense and careless linguistic behavior.

Highlights

Codeswitching is defined as the practice of speakers shuttling between languages on structural levels including discourse, sentence, phrase, word, or utterance (Poplack, 1980, Bokamba, 1989)
The findings revealed that the linguistic analysis of 523 codeswitching occurrences found in the data revealed the structural complexity and variety of codeswitching as a linguistic resource available to multilinguals fluent in Arabic and English
On the whole-language level, the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model focuses on the hierarchy of the languages, i.e., Arabic and English, used simultaneously during the same speech event (Myers-Scotton & Jake, 2000)

Summary

Introduction

Codeswitching is defined as the practice of speakers shuttling between languages on structural levels including discourse, sentence, phrase, word, or utterance (Poplack, 1980, Bokamba, 1989). A more general definition of codeswitching comes from applied linguistics which views it as a speech practice associated with multilingualism and related to the nature of discourse and the interlocutors engaged in it. It occurs when two or more languages are used alternatively in one interactional situation (Johnson & Johnson, 1999). The issue of multilingual codeswitching is not a new occurrence in public discourse and has gained attention and raised concerns in Arab communities over the years The existence of this linguistic practice dates back to a century and a half ago in reference to the prophet Mohamad and his multilingual multicultural community

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